Eric's Return
by Kevin Cathy
Summary: Takes place immediately after the series finale episode. Donna said she would forgive Eric for breaking up with her while he was in Africa, but was she was too quick in trying to forget?
1. Chapter 1

It was now 1980.

Midnight had struck.

A new year. A new decade was being ushered in by many, especially all of those in the Forman household in Point Place, Wisconsin.

A perception of sensibilities and what life should be had become reimagined.

Anything was possible again.

The past decade had come and gone; the slate was now fresh and ready for new lifechanging experiences.

These were the thoughts that were occurring in Donna's mind as she kissed Eric immediately after the people on television and in the Forman household counted past "3!… 2!… 1!…".

She was beyond ecstatic to have Eric back in her arms, embracing each other the only way they both knew that it was _them_. It brought back so many memories of the past four years: how they made out for the first time at the drive-in theater, how Eric proposed to her on the water tower, how they had broken up for the first time, how much she missed him when she was in California a couple summers ago… the list was endless, but none forgettable.

Donna's joy for Eric's return also came with a minor sense of an emotion that she could not yet pinpoint. That was not until other not-so-pleasant memories and feelings began to resurface in her mind.

 _He left me to go to Africa for almost a year; he broke up with me over the phone; come to think of it: he broke up with me two years ago because I didn't want to wear a stupid ring that didn't mean anything._

Those negative thoughts and others from throughout the latter years of the 1970s caused her slight sense of resentment to become more than just slight. Her face was turning the hue that would have matched her original hair color.

She was now wholeheartedly _mad_.

 _He can't just come back and expect me to forgive and forget everything._

She wanted to be happy. Everyone else was. Everyone else was now toasting and sipping on various New Year's-themed drinks. She now wanted one of those drinks, but not for the same celebrating reason as everyone else.

Eric, of course, was oblivious to Donna's change in mood. He grabbed a beer and toasted his friends and family. He turned to Donna to do the same before realizing that Donna did not have a drink in her hand.

"Donna, where's your drink?" he asked with a large smile.

She wanted to say something cleverly hurtful to let him know that she had reverted to feelings of anger again, but nothing came to mind. She looked at his smile and then down at his hand. She violently grabbed Eric's beer and briskly walked away, slamming open the swinging kitchen door.

Everyone quickly quieted down after witnessing the scene.

Eric did not move a muscle. Everyone else in the room focused their eyes on Eric.

After a few more seconds of awkward silence, Red finally exclaimed "What the hell did you _do_!?"

Eric maintained his blank stare at the floor, unsure of how to answer Red's actually good question.

He finally reacted by scratching his head and looking at everyone.

"I don't know," he said.

"Damn, Forman," Hyde interjected. "You don't even have to say or do anything to piss a girl off. You have special powers, man; none of which, by the way, I would ever want. You're like… the Anti-Superman."

Kelso chimed in: "Unexceptional Man!"

Jackie decided to join in on the public roast: "You guys are giving him too much credit. First we'd have to agree that Eric's really a _man_."

Fez concluded the group's trashing with his almost non-understandable accent: "You're the Unexceptional Earth Dweller!"

All four friends laughed in unison while Eric silently remained in place.

Fez, still laughing, felt the need to say "I'm sorry, Eric. But you've been gone for too long; we have a lot of burns for you to make up for lost time."

Eric, having had enough of the last ten minutes since being home, left the living room to go find Donna.


	2. Chapter 2

"Donna! Where are you going!?" Eric yelled behind her as she continued to briskly walk towards the street… away from the pressure, away from the memories, away from _him_.

"Donna!"

She stopped abruptly in her tracks and turned around to face her former lover.

"What!?" she shouted.

Eric was taken aback by her reaction, so stunned that he couldn't think of what to say next.

Donna raised her eyebrows as if to say "Well?..."

Eric took a breath and said "Are you okay? What's going on?"

Donna crossed her arms. "You left me, Eric."

Eric's eyes opened even bigger.

She continued. "You left me without even thinking of me. I dealt with you being a lazy bum for a whole year. You didn't work, you didn't take me out, you sold my engagement ring… you did nothing for me or yourself. Then when you realized you were behind in life, you chose to go to Africa for yet another year. You left me. Then you broke up with me over the phone. So tell me, Eric, why should I forgive you?"

Eric took a moment to digest all that he had been told. He looked down at the sidewalk, then at the street, then back at Donna. He thought hard.

He realized that he always was the apologizer. He always took all of the blame for no matter what Donna ever felt. No wonder she never respected him. Having been away and realizing that he could live without her, _this_ time he wouldn't hold back.

"Don't, then. Don't forgive me," he said.

Donna uncrossed her arms in shock.

Eric's mouth turned into a smile. He was finally going to tell her what she should've heard long ago.

"The fact of the matter, Donna, is that you're a bitch."

Donna gasped.

He went on.


	3. Chapter 3

"Let me count the ways for why I shouldn't give two shits about what you think."

Eric's voice was no longer at a calm volume. Shocked at Eric's reaction, Donna also noticed that his voice was no longer high-pitched like it used to get when he was upset. Even though she was somewhat afraid of this newly confident and antagonistic version of the man she once loved, she was at the same time intrigued.

"First, you led me on for over a year! You kept promising that we were going to do it, and then you'd change your mind! I could've gotten with Pam Macy or another slut at school, but I waited for you, and _patiently_ I might add! Do I get any credit for that? No! Of course not!

"Then, I go out of my way to get you a promise ring, and you don't even have the courtesy to wear it on your finger. It was a fucking _promise ring_! It doesn't even mean anything. It's not like it's an engagement ring! Even if it meant something to me, all you had to do was just play along; then if you didn't want to be together later, just give it back. But instead, you had to make it a big deal.

"Then, after I'm heartbroken about our breakup, you wrote an untrue version of events in the school paper and got everyone to hate me. Thanks a fucking lot!

"Then when I took you to the Price Mart ball, you got guys all over you; I dance with one girl and get her number, but then you yell at me and get rid of her number so I can't call her! You bitch!

"Then you go off and fuck Casey Kelso. You knew he was a douchebag and you still went out with him. I'm surprised I even let you touch me after that after where you've been!

"Then after we get back together, you get mad at _me_ because I went on _one_ date with that movie theater girl. Hello!? You _fucked_ Casey Kelso… A Kelso!

"Then you get a trailer for us to live in without even asking me. I didn't want to stay put in Point Place because of _you_! I was looking out for _you_! Then you freak out about getting married because you didn't want to settle!? Guess what? Neither did I!

"So yeah. I was lazy sometimes. I stayed out a little bit after work once in a while to hang with my friends. I looked at some _Playboys_ … But look at you! Look what you've done! Look at who _you_ are! You want to judge _me_ for letting you go free while I knew I couldn't be with you? Once again, I was looking out for _you._ I didn't want to hold you back from living your life.

"Fuck you, Donna. Seriously. You are a piece of shit human being..." Eric finally took a breath before ending his monologue with "… and you don't deserve to be with me."

At that moment, before Donna could react in any way, Eric briskly walked past her and towards the direction of The Hub. It was about time he actually enjoyed being back home.


	4. Chapter 4

As Eric was walking away after ripping Donna a new one, he couldn't believe what he had just done. He had finally… _finally_ told her off! His face was still stern and his posture was still upright even though he had already turned the corner and could no longer be seen by the silent jaw-dropped Donna.

The Hub was only a few minutes away. As far as he knew, it would be open on New Year's like it always had been.

During his strut, he inadvertently kicked a small rock in front of him. As he quickly came up again behind the rock, he kicked it once more, this time on purpose. Again, he kicked it as he walked up behind it. He did this repeatedly throughout his walk. A few times, he kicked it a little too far and he had to go to the other side of the street to kick it back to his preferred right side.

As he kicked this little rock, he imagined that the rock symbolized his hopes and dreams. It felt like every time he thought he was close to getting what he wanted, he would kick his own goals away from himself.

He thought about how he going to marry Donna. On the day of, he had kicked that rock ahead of himself by not showing up. He thought about his original goal of having a career like all of his friends; of course, he kicked that rock almost to the edge of the universe when he decided to "take a year off" and didn't do a damn thing with his life for an entire year.

As he examined his own past mistakes, he came to realize that even though Donna was guilty of all the things he just yelled at her for, he too was at fault for many things. If he had just manned up and told Donna his misgivings the minute they occurred, those issues would not have blossomed into such complicated messes. If only he had been honest with her about the trailer the day she showed it to him, he wouldn't have developed those uncertain feelings about whether they would last. If only he had not apologized so much when he didn't need to, Donna would not have mistreated him like he had allowed her.

When he thought of how imperfect his own stance truly was, he kicked the rock too hard this time. The rock went over the side of the road and trickled down the hill until it hit the river never to be seen or kicked again.


	5. Chapter 5

Donna remained standing in the same spot of the Forman's driveway, still in utter shock from Eric's tirade. She couldn't believe that he spouted off the way he did. What could have made him act out and talk to her like that? It couldn't be that what he said was true, could it?

Could it?

She was so lost in thought that she couldn't even feel the cold Wisconsin night air surrounding her.

As she dwelled on Eric's words, she began to think of her version of events. She _had_ written a story about their breakup that didn't paint Eric in the best of light. But she did it because she was just jotting stuff down for her own peace of mind, not because she was trying to be malicious.

 _But, wait_ , she thought. _I did publish the story in the school paper… and people did give him shit for it. But I can't control other people, can I? If they took it a certain way and treated Eric badly for it, that's not my fault, is it?_

She thought deeper.

 _Okay, yeah, that was actually kind of messed up. I could have just written the story and not published it._

She then thought about what Eric said about the promise ring.

Even though it meant something different for Eric, she didn't _have_ to make it a big deal. It wasn't an engagement ring after all. She could have just worn the stupid ring and then given it back if they didn't work out later. It's not like she'd have to file for divorce or anything.

Once the wheels starting turning in Donna's brain, she started thinking of other instances where she had unknowingly mistreated Eric.

Getting rid of that one girl's number that he got at the Price Mart Ball when they were broken up was definitely not cool. _She_ was the one that said it wasn't a date, but then when _she_ didn't like Eric talking to another girl, she reacted in a way that only hurt _Eric._

As her body remained frozen in place along with the temperature of the outside, her mind was doing the opposite as she couldn't help but go over more past scenarios where she had acted like a total bitch to Eric pretty much the whole time since she's known him.


	6. Chapter 6

Back at the Forman household, everyone was still silent from Eric and Donna's dramatic exit. It wasn't until Kitty questioned "Now what on Earth do you suppose that was all about?" that the silence was broken.

"Oh, who knows," said Red. "Eric doesn't have to do anything to piss someone off. At least he's good at _some_ thing."

This comment made Michael open his mouth into a big smile.

Hyde then punched Michael's shoulder with immense power.

"Ow!" Michael exclaimed. "What was that for!?"

Hyde pulled Michael farther away from Red and Kitty, leaving Jackie and Fez to stare blankly at the Formans.

When Hyde believed they were far enough away from Red, Hyde whispered to Michael "Don't think that just 'cause of that whole scene that you're getting out of calling Red a dumbass."

Michael had totally forgot about the deal that was made in the basement only moments ago.

"I wasn't gonna," he lied.

"Okay… so do it. Right now."

"But, uh…" Michael searched for an excuse. "But, uh… Eric's not here! I can't do it unless all the people that agreed to the terms are here!"

Hyde made a disapproving face followed by one of semi-understanding.

"Hhmm," he mused. "I guess maybe you're right. I wouldn't want Forman to miss Red kicking your ass to death."

Michael let out of deep sigh of relief before he and Hyde both rejoined the party.


	7. Chapter 7

Eric finally reached The Hub. It was farther than he remembered it being, but he didn't mind the long walk. Since he didn't have a car in Africa, and with cars being scarce in the village he resided in, he was now used to walking long distances. It also gave him time to think.

Before he could extend his arm to The Hub's entrance door, he heard the loud commotion coming from within. He already could imagine just who might be reigning in the New Year at a place that didn't sell alcohol: high school students.

He opened the door and realized his assumption was more or less on point. He immediately recognized a few faces from school. They were now juniors and seniors, but he had last seen them when they were freshman and sophomores. They had changed a bit. They were taller and more built. It immediately reminded him that he too had grown. But had he grown up the way he should have, or did he grow in a way that irrelevantly won't lead to bettering himself?

He pondered this question when a very familiar face came up to him and remarked, "Eric Forman?!"

It was Amy, "the Slurpee Girl" (or as Donna referred to her as "the Slurpee Slut"). He had gone on two dates with Amy while Donna and he were broken up. Donna had found out about her after they had gotten back together. She had scolded him and once again treated him like dirt for not telling her about Amy.

Amy looked to Eric, for a lack of a specific word, great! She was prettier than he remembered her.

She rushed up to him and gave him a big long hug.

"Wow. Hey. Amy… You look great," Eric said after Amy released her grip.

"So do you," she said.

They both had to somewhat shout because The Hub was so loud with all the high schoolers chattering about and throwing confetti everywhere.

Eric wanted to say something else, but he couldn't hear himself think. He noticed Amy was likely having the same issue so he asked "You want to go outside for a minute?"

Amy nodded.


	8. Chapter 8

"So," Eric said as he and Amy both found a secluded spot outside. "How've you been?"

Amy's eye widened along with her smile when she responded, "I'm doing great! It's been so long! I've missed you!"

She quickly dove in for a hug and Eric was at first hesitant to pull his arms up to reciprocate it, but he eventually did so.

The hug lasted a little longer than he thought it would have before she finally released him.

It felt good to be embraced by someone that only held good thoughts about him. It felt pure.

He smiled.

"So what've you been up to?" she asked.

"Just got back from Africa, actually," he replied.

"Wow! That's crazy! How long were you there?"

"About a year."

"Oh my God. That's insane."

"What about you? What've you been up to?"

"Oh you know, same old same old."

A brief silence ensued as they both just looked and smiled at each other.

Amy let out a sighed chuckle before saying, "It's so good to see you, Eric. I'm glad you're home. We should catch up sometime."

Eric replied, "Yeah, sure. That sounds great."

Amy pulled out a pen from her pocket and grabbed Eric's hand.

"Here's my number. I'm writing it on you so you don't lose it," she said while maintaining her pretty smile.

When she finished marking the top of his hand, Eric looked at it and saw that the zero in her phone number was a heart symbol.


End file.
